Some of the reaction to the draft has been interesting. Some are ticked that we took 7 offensive players. Some are ticked we took 2 WR and 2 QBs. Some don’t like the attitude of Giacomini. Some think Patrick Lee is very mediocre. One guy (“Sparky” on WSSP) really didn’t like the draft and believes TT really blew this one. Doug Russell on WSSP earlier in the morning loves the draft. One of the guys at ESPN Milwaukee Radio is ticked at anyone who grades drafts saying you have to wait 3 years to know the true grade of a draft in the NFL. Yet, they then dissected the positive and negative points about the draft. It’s really the same thing fellas, you just didn’t assign a letter to it.

If I had a leaning at this point, overall I would fall in favor of his selections this past weekend. While I did not classify WR as a need position prior to the draft, our #4 (Robinson) and #5 (Martin) receivers are really only OK and could possibly be upgraded. Obtaining Jordy may not be a bad pick if he indeed has the upside TT and the staff believe he has. To be consistent, I have to support picking a bigger/possession-type WR as I have been asking for one for years. The Brett Swain pick is a bit more mysterious unless they have special teams thoughts for him or perhaps think he may be a Wes Welker-type slot receiver. Patrick Lee was a need pick, regardless of TT’s claim that he only picks the best player – TT knew we needed at least another corner to compete behind Harris and Woodson. I’m fine picking the 2 QBs, especially Brohm. He is a really good player – you gotta wonder how the draft would have turned out had Petrino stayed at Atlanta – would he have taken Brohm #3 – probably. (I do wonder if TT has a notion to develop Flynn and Brohm and try to deal one of them down the road, especially if one of them sees some back-up action and plays well – like Matt Schaub). I really like the TE pick-up: a young guy who is coachable, has tremendous athleticism, is a great receiver and at the same time someone who can be developed. And, some fresh blood at DE in Jeremy Thompson might help out what became a worn down pass rush by year’s end lasts year. And, we need bodies to compete on the O-Line – and importantly, once we decide who will play, we need to coach them hard and give them a chance to succeed. I don’t want this back-and-forth crap like last year.

I do wish TT had angled harder to pick up a viable RB (and/or a FB). Grant is very good and I am fairly confident he’ll continue to play well. But I don’t like the guys behind him. I heard Homer on ESPN radio over the weekend reminding us to not forget about Noah Herron. Listen, I like Herron because he’s from Milwaukee, but I don’t like him on the Packers and I really don’t like his hair. But I fear the Packers’ brass likes him because he’s solid, doesn’t make mistakes and works hard. I’m sorry, sometimes there’s more to football than working hard. It’s interesting really, with the RB position, we have Herron who works too hard with limited results, Jackson who works pretty hard with OK results, Morency who works sort of hard with nothing-nothing-nothing-big run-nothing, and then Wynn who doesn’t work hard at all and has decent results. I still believe we should have pulled something to pick up Rashard Mendenhall when he was in that brief, inexplicable free-fall in the first round. Or, Steve Slaton. We need some excitement back there and I want a viable 1-2 punch. That said, I will allow for the possibility that TT and MM have seen something from these other RB guys in the off-season I haven’t and that perhaps we may be more stable there than most of us presently think.

What are your thoughts on the overall draft by the Pack?

UPDATE: Forgot to add that I think we should have picked up a linebacker – even a 7th round guy to be a competitive body in camp. With 9 picks, TT should have been able to find one RB and LB who could contribute.

For whatever reason, I was pretty confident that Patrick Lee was the corner the Packers wanted, short of Dominique Rogers-Cromartie. Reading McGinn’s description of him at JSOnline, I thought, “Oh yeah – he’s the one they’ll pick give the chance.”

I was surprised by Jordy Nelson, but (1) Donald Driver ain’t getting any younger, nor is Koren Robinson, (2) Ruvell Martin and James Jones have skills, but I wouldn’t call either one a #1 receiver or even necessarily a #2, and (3) if TT can strike gold with Greg Jennings, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. Looking at the extensive collection of Nelson highlights on YouTube, the boy seems to have some skills – let’s see if how it plays out. I wouldn’t be surprised in a year or two for the top two WRs to be Jennings & Nelson, with Greg moving to slot when Jones comes in as #3.

Regarding Brett Swain, you bring in competition at WR, even if it’s for the practice squad. We had Chris Francies active several times last year – this year, it might be Brett Swain. Who knows? You’re only as good as the last man on your roster.

I’m not at all surprised by them acquiring two QBs, though I’m surprised they managed to land Brohm. That’s classic Ron Wolf-style drafting, much like the two O-line bodies and a D-lineman. You get a QB and a lineman or two on either side every year, because you can never have too many players at those positions. If you do, you trade them for 2nd round picks to Cleveland. :-}

I was desperately hoping Brad Cottam would fall to them, but Finley’s younger and with a shorter medical dossier. He’s a developmental type, a #2 TE with time to grow into a #1.

Would I have liked to see another good RB in the fold? Yes, yes I would. At the same time, this is the scouting & talent group that got Ryan Grant for a freaking song last year. I have a fair degree of confidence that they know what they’re doing. :-)

For a team drafting in the last four, I think they’ve done pretty well.

Good to see posts and comments from folks who understand that the Packers have professional scouts and evaluators. I’m happy with the draft, but, honestly, who am I to know (even if I watch every college ball game of the year)?

I have a good deal of faith in this organization … and it sure feels better than when I’d go out to the street in front of my house, ball under my arm, in the 54301 after another tragic (to me) Packers loss to play “Scott Hunter” with my brothers: “Hey, look – I’m Scott Hunter!” (drops back 30 yards to pass and then fumbles in own end zone). We alternated playing “Scott Hunter” with playing “John Hadl” just to keep it interesting.

I am very much looking forward to the Fall … and without all that fear.

Good call Aristomenes. I too enjoy not living with the fear. It is nice to live in a time when every Wisconsin kid does not have a second (as in other than Green Bay) team that they follow and cheer for just so they can have something positive to look forward to on game day.

As a kid it was always Green Bay and the Raiders. Those were my teams. Green Bay because you knew that they were special (Grandpa and Dad always said so) but the Raiders because they were actually winning some games and had some real talent.